Dr. Majidi Bassier emailed me that he would be reciting Surah Rahman at the morning (fajr) prayers today (2 July 2016). Like many others, I have always enjoyed reciting this chapter for the refrain that flows through it to the very end: “Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?” The favours refer to the creation of nature, and human culture. They include the speech that humans possess to communicate with each other, the fruits and treasures that they find on the earth and in the depths of the oceans, and also the boats and ships that cross rivers and oceans. In sum, the favours cover all aspects of human existence on this earth (nature) and in this world (culture).
Many years ago in my hometown, we wished we had the privilege and honour of reciting this chapter in the night prayer in Ramadan. We knew it well, and knew that everyone listening enjoyed it too. Reciting this chapter would give us a special place in the town for one night. Alas, most of the time, there was a senior Hafiz who denied us this privilege. He sometimes changed the order of reciters so that he could recite Surah Rahman. He was a good reciter, but at the time we resented this high-handedness. But my uncle Mammandkaka and my father always gave me the opportunity to recite the Chapter at family events, and always made a point to say that they loved it when I read it. Listening or reciting it always brings tears to my eyes ... in gratitude for the little favour that they bestowed upon me.
Given the focus on the favours bestowed on humanity, it was surprising to also read “All that dwells upon the earth is perishing, yet still abides the Face of thy Lord, majestic, splendid” (Arberry Translation). On the one hand, the refrain turns attention to the bounties and favours found in human existence. Again and again, it implores human beings to be grateful for life, for the world and everything in it. On the other hand, all this will come to pass. There is no ultimate value in these favours. Only the face of the God would endure.
Listening to it these days caused me to pause. Is this verse not pulling the rug from under the refrain? Is it not ultimately destroying the intuitive message of the refrain? If everything is perishing, then the favours may be denied?
Immediately after this devaluation, however, comes “kulla yamin huwa fi sha’n” (“every day He is upon some labour” - Arberyy). Qurtubi reports that commentators found this to be a verse particularly difficult verse to understand. But they settled on the fact that God is always attending to existence, to the needs of his creation. God creates and destroys provides support and sustains, answers prayers and chastises. And he does it all in the world inhabited by humans. In a way, the verse restores value to the world and its favours. But now, the value includes life and death, and turns around the “labour” of God.
The two verses must then be put together: ““All that dwells upon the earth is perishing” and ““every day He is upon some labour.” The one declares that nothing else is of value except the face of God, and the other that every thing is of value as his “labour” (sha’n). The two together give us a perspective on the earth and the world that helps us to navigate between loss and recovery, appreciation and devaluation. There is a delicate balance between all and nothing in the face and labour of God. The favours of God include loss and recovery, overflowing bounties but also mishaps and obstacles.
